The present invention claims the benefit of German Patent Application No. 102 40 638.3, filed Sep. 3, 2002.
The present invention relates to a guide mechanism for a cover of a sliding/tilting roof having at least one profiled rail, at least one bearing part displaceable along the profiled rail for shifting the cover, and at least one intermediate part which is connected with the bearing part and at least indirectly mechanically coupled to the cover.
There are known guide mechanisms for a cover of a sliding/tilting roof having at least one profiled rail, at least one bearing part displaceable along the profiled rail for shifting the cover, and at least one intermediate part connected with the bearing part and at least indirectly mechanically coupled to the cover. A guide mechanism of this type is described in DE 44 05 742 C1, for example, or in DE 195 14 585 A1. Usually, profiled rails are arranged to the side of the cover, and at least two bearing parts run in each profiled rail, namely a so-called front sliding shoe and a so-called rear sliding shoe, with the terms xe2x80x9cfrontxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9crearxe2x80x9d being related to the state of the bearing parts when installed in the vehicle and to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The front bearing part forms the swivel bearing of a slotted guide (in the form of a lever) with a lateral guide track.
Preferably, the slotted guide is directly coupled to the cover. A further intermediate part engages into the guide track formed in the slotted guide and is connected with the rear sliding shoe. The rear sliding shoe is usually moved through a cable guided to be resistant to buckling. A nose on the intermediate part projects into the guide track and, during shifting of the rear sliding shoe, causes the slotted guide to swivel and hence causes the cover to swivel in order to, for example, raise the cover or, prior to its shifting, to lower it at the rear end. The bearing parts ideally have various properties so that they, on the one hand, slide in the profiled rails in a maintenance-free manner and, on the other, have high enough stability so that they are able to introduce the force acting on them via the extension, for instance during shifting, into the profiled rail. Good properties in terms of sliding quality and strength, however, are contradictory to some extent. This is the reason why hitherto there are injection-molded parts made of several components which on the one hand provide for good sliding quality and on the other for high stability.
The invention provides a guide mechanism which has a simple and cost-effective construction and is distinguished by a small space and a very good transfer of force from the intermediate part into the profiled rail. This is achieved in a guide mechanism of the type mentioned above in that the intermediate part and the bearing part are directly connected with each other and the intermediate part has an extension which is located within the profiled rail and is prevented by the profiled rail from leaving the same. Thus, the profiled rail represents a type of blocking means for the extension in the profiled rail. With this, however, it is possible that the bearing part has inferior properties in terms of strength, because the profiled rail itself defines a mechanical locking means for the protrusion.
The mechanism according to the invention makes it possible to also introduce forces from the extension largely directly into the profiled rail and to essentially place only a compressive load on the bearing part, which preferably is a plastic part. This allows a simpler and cost-effective design of the bearing part.
According to one embodiment, the profiled rail is formed in a C-shape and encompasses the bearing part together with the extension. Through the opening of the C-shape, the intermediate part is able to extend toward the cover. The at least indirect mechanical coupling means that the intermediate part is in the path of flux of force between the bearing part and the cover. However, the invention also provides an immediate coupling between the intermediate part and the cover.
Relating to the installed condition, the profiled rail locks the extension to the intermediate part in vertical direction, i.e., in the direction in which very large forces are exerted on the intermediate part and the extension when moving. The bearing part has a recess which is open in the vertical upward direction for receiving the extension of the intermediate part. The extension is blocked from leaving the recess by the rail.
The guide mechanism according to one embodiment of the invention further allows construction of the bearing part and/or the intermediate part as a single-component plastic part. Even the extension can be integrally formed on the intermediate part and designed from plastic. The inventive structure therefore eliminates the need to use two-component plastic pieces. Instead, it is possible through the invention to allocate the various demands to the material properties of the individual parts. For example, in one embodiment, the bearing part is made of a plastic material with good sliding quality, whereas to intermediate part and the extension are made of a material which has correspondingly good properties in terms of strength. Due to the modularity of the invention, the parts can also be standardized in a simple manner, by, for instance, having the possibility of using identical intermediate parts with different guide rails and designing only the bearing part so as to be adapted to the guide rail.
In one embodiment, the intermediate part is a slotted guide that is mounted for swiveling motion in the bearing part via the extension; however, it may also be, for instance, a guiding part fastened to the rear sliding shoe, the shifting of which brings about a swiveling motion of the slotted guide. In this case, the intermediate part couples the bearing part with the slotted guide.
At least one nose can be integrally formed on the intermediate part which couples the bearing part with the slotted guide, this nose projecting into the guide track, already mentioned above, in the slotted guide.